Google glasses

A new device from Google has me fascinated and concerned. It’s Google Glasses. This is what looks like a normal set of glasses, but off to the side and slightly above one eye is a lens which displays information into the user’s field of vision. With these glasses you can access the internet, receive and make phone calls, take video or pictures or do dozens of other things.

From a geek point of view, this sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to try them out.

But from a societal point of view, I have to wonder what affect it will have.

We’ve already seen people sitting in a restaurant while talking on the phone and ignoring others sitting at the same table. We’ve seen people in the grocery story checking out while talking on the phone and acting like the clerk checking them out doesn’t even exist.

With Google Glasses, if we can not only be on the phone, but also be watching a movie, reading a book or doing research while walking down the street or the hallway, what affect is this going to have. We’ll no longer smile and say “Hi” when we pass a co-worker in the hallway or a friend on the street. We’re already losing some of our face-to-face communication. Will that only get worse?

Or is this a case of the positives outweigh the negatives?

Again, I’d love to try the glasses, but I have non-tech concerns.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think, Google Glasses, good or bad?

Warren Mills is the webmaster for WTHR-TV. He has been building and working on web sites since the mid-1990s.